What might BP Nation be able to suggest in this situation.

The property has been in excellent condition since it was built two years ago, and I’ve lived there myself without experiencing any similar issues.The lease is a standard Texas lease, and I’m seeking advice on how to approach this situation fairly.

.- My Resources / Constraints: I'm in a by no means unique, but perhaps less common situation for those getting started; I'm a somewhat senior software engineer at a tech megacorp and should be able to save a couple of down payments per year for lower priced houses (100-200 in my area), or perhaps one medium priced house (300-500).

I think it depends on your personal situation and your goals.

Quote from @Jeff Chisum: 100% of my business is helping clients in all 50 states with purchasing vacation homes/STR properties. 90% of my clients use the 10% down second home occupancy loanIf you want help with understanding loan options and what could work for your situation, get ahold of this guy asap! 

I'm sure I'm not the first person to be in this situation, what have others done that worked? 

As far as property management goes, I figured it might be best (in my particular situation) to start with a property manager since I will be travelling for work for most of next year and it would be better to have someone local to handle things for me?  

This gives you a clear roadmap for how to handle the situation while sticking to what you both agreed to.

Partnering with Billy Medlen, we saw the opportunity to create a win-win situation by transforming the property and delivering a strong profit.

However, I received some feedback from one of my partners that the play here would be for an investor to subdivide or re plat the land for a multiple tenant situation.